2013 New Year’s Resolutions and a Little Friend

As December nears, it’s time to brainstorm my New Year’s resolutions for 2013. The Stuller family is expecting its first baby in that time, so it’s entirely possible that any goal I set for myself will immediately seem implausible, thwarted by a new dependent and many personal misconceptions about the transition to parenthood. Still, naming my goals will be helpful, even if only the most important bubble up to the surface over the next year.

Certifications

In Were my Microsoft Certification Exams Worth it I detailed my experience with these types of certifications. My conclusion has been upheld so far, that the certifications themselves do not provide much value once a certain level of experience is obtained. Therefore, I’ve fully abandoned the idea of updating or getting new ones.

“Any sort of certification by a tool vendor is worthless. Any certification created by a methodology proponent is also worthless.” – David Starr on Herding Code episode 150

Despite the quote above, I’ve decided to make Scrum Certification a goal for 2013. I feel I have a good grasp of iterative project management processes but I could benefit from structured training about a specific, standard methodology. I understand that the certification itself is not the end goal, but it is a nice motivation as a milestone of my learning.

“If you go for certifications, remember your goal is not simply to put more letters after your name but to maximize the value of the educational experience. Winning the game requires that you not only keep your eye on the ball but also anticipate what the next pitch will be. Historical evidence suggests that the average lifespan of any system is approximately 18 months, so the planning process for how you’re going to replace what you just built starts pretty much the moment you finish building it. Planning is a lot more effective when you know what you’re talking about. Being informed on emerging trends is a fundamental job responsibility, something in our business that needs to be done daily to keep up.” – 10 Essential Competencies for IT Pros by Jeff Relkin

What am I going to do instead?

Yesterday I read Paul Graham’s most recent post, How to Get Startup Ideas. This blog post really cut to the core of me, as it described the best ways to identify startup ideas. While I sometimes come up with ideas for products, they don’t occur to me as frequently as I’d like. Paul articulated what type of people have the most success, namely those who “live in the future and build what seems interesting.” So that’s what I’m going to strive to do. Throughout my career, I’ve done a pretty good job of solidifying certain skills, such as specific technologies (SQL Server, C#, jQuery) or communication (writing and public speaking). However, I’ve been hesitant to jump into new, trending technologies. For a long time, I considered it beneficial to isolate myself from fad technologies, figuring I can save time that way. In 2013, I’m going to try to both live in the future and build what’s interesting. Maybe that means working a little on a mobile app or maybe HTML 5. I don’t want to constrain my options by listing any technologies before the year even starts. If something seems cool, I’m going to come up with an excuse to build something with it.

Public Speaking

I’m scheduled to wrap up my Toastmasters Competent Communicator certification by the end of this year (more on this in a later post). In 2013, I’d like to leverage the practice I’ve had toward some sort of speaking arrangement that advances my career.

Personal Life

As usual, I don’t just make goals for my career. There are also things I strive for in my personal life. Among those, I’d like to complete 1 big home improvement project (convert our half bathroom to a full or move my home office), get back in shape (how about a half-marathon), get involved (with my alma mater or our neighborhood).

The Blog

What should I do with this blog? This is post 45, which means I’ve devoted over 40,000 words to it. My site visitors are steadily increasing and they are even stable when I take an extended break. However, when I started 3 years ago I thought I would have had more traction by now. I enjoy having a forum with which to express myself but a) I’m running out of content ideas and b) I’m losing motivation based on the slow traffic growth.

Traditionally, I tend to bounce back and forth between technical articles and more generic lessons based on personal stories. Which category speaks most to you? I’ve said everything I need to say from a self-expression standpoint, so when I continue to blog, I want to ensure I’m providing something useful for my readers.

Bring in the New Year

Clearly, many of my ideas are half-baked. That’s partly because I still have a month to decide on New Year’s resolutions and partly because I have no idea what to expect of life with a child. Still, this post is important as a record of my mindset at this critical milestone in my life. It’s also an open invitation for discussion. What other goals or modern technologies should I be considering? How will a newborn affect my personal goals over the year? What type of content should I be producing?

Related

About StuI am a software developer living in Cincinnati, OH. I primarily focus on .NET and Microsoft technologies and have bounced around quite a bit in my short career between multiple cities in the Midwest (including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and St. Louis).
I would like to learn more about programming, technology, marketing, and how to run a business. -Nathan Stuller